My Devotionals

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

We’re in a series exploring 7 biblical principles for resolving conflict at work. And let me tell you, this is as much for me as it is for you as I am not naturally good at pursuing peace.

For example, years ago, I worked with someone (let's call him Ryan) whose poor management caused me significant financial pain. Did I address the conflict? Not really. Because I knew I wouldn't have to work with Ryan again, so I found it easier to just “write him off.”

I’m ashamed to admit how I handled that situation, because Luke 6:27-28 convicts me of how incredibly unChristlike my response was. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” 

Jesus calls us not only to avoid retaliation but to love, bless, and do good to those we have conflict with. If I had sought to bless Ryan, I would have...

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)

Out of nowhere, my colleague blindsided me with a super offensive comment—the kind of remark that could have easily destroyed our relationship. 

I was furious and wanted nothing more than to retaliate. But by God’s grace, I took some time to see “the plank” in my own eye and realized that I had contributed greatly to the conflict.

I went to my friend and apologized for my part in the disagreement. And before I could even address how he had offended me, my friend offered up a sincere apology of his own. Today, our personal and professional relationship...

A person’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense. (Proverbs 19:11)

We’re in a series exploring seven biblical principles for resolving conflict at work. Here’s the third…

Principle #3: Resolve to Overlook or Address the offense that has caused a lack of peace between you and someone else.

You may be surprised to learn that Scripture commends overlooking certain offenses, but it’s there in black and white (see Proverbs 19:11). And I think we see evidence of this in the life of Christ. 

Take Jesus’s exchange with the “rich young ruler.” After Jesus pointed to God’s commands such as the ones to “not murder,” and “not commit adultery,” the young man said, “All these things I have kept from my youth” (see Matthew 19:16-22). To which Jesus must have thought, “Really?”

While this man may not have technically murdered or cheated on his wife,...

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)

I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been waiting eight years for someone to make the first move in pursuing peace with me. 

From my perspective, this person is the “more guilty” party in our conflict (whatever that means). But today’s passage has convicted me to take the first step toward peace. This verse is also the source of the second of seven biblical principles I’m sharing for resolving conflict at work….

Principle #2: Make the First Move to resolve any conflict.

This principle is directly connected to the first one we explored last week to “Praise the Prince of Peace for the grace and mercy he has shown you.” If Jesus waited for the guilty party to make the first move in resolving conflict, you and I would be eternally dead in our sin. 

But Christ did move first. He pursued peace with us while we rejected him. And so, to...

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)

In his excellent book The Peacemaker (which was hugely influential in my writing of this series), author Ken Sande defines conflict as “a difference in opinion or purpose that frustrates someone’s goals or desires.”

With that definition as our guide, it’s easy to see that “conflict” is everywhere in our work. But the command to make peace is everywhere in God’s Word. 

After declaring “Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus went on to dedicate huge portions of the Sermon on the Mount to the art of resolving conflict (see Matthew 5:21-26, 38-41, 43-48, 6:14, and 7:1-5). Commenting on that sermon, pastor Tony Merida says, “Clearly being a peacemaker is a big deal to Jesus!”

It was also a big deal to Jesus’s followers. As Ken Sande points out, “every Epistle in the New Testament contains a command to live at peace with one...

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads….And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:4-5)

Today concludes our series exploring 5 biblical truths about work on the New Earth. Here they are again:

• Truth #1: We who are in Christ will delight in our work for eternity.
• Truth #2: We will be rewarded with varying degrees of responsibility based on how we live and work today.
• Truth #3: We can expect some continuity between our work now and our work on the New Earth. 
• Truth #4: We will have unlimited time to do the work we want to do for God’s glory.
• Truth #5: We will reign with Christ intimately forever and ever.

I saved the best truth for last. Because it is that foundational truth—that we will finally be with God fully—that makes all the others so wonderful.

But read Revelation 22:5 again. We won’t just be with God. We will work and reign with him, which is exactly what he intended from the beginning (see Genesis...

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him…And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:3,5)

There are dozens of jobs I would love to try: write a musical, be a travel planner, design a bookstore, serve as personal photographer to a president or dignitary. The list goes on and on. 

Why don’t I give one of these careers a shot? Because loving my neighbor through my work requires the pursuit of excellence in my work. And the pursuit of excellence requires loads of focus and time.

You simply can’t “do it all” if you want to do your most exceptional work for the glory of God and the good of others. But you can in the life to come! 

That brings me to the fourth of five biblical truths about work on the New Earth we’re exploring in this series: We will have unlimited time to do the work we want to do for God’s glory.

Psalm 37:4 says this: “Take...

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on…for their deeds will follow them. (Revelation 14:13)

A fortune teller once told Walt Disney that he would die on his birthday before he turned thirty-five. As Disney biographer Bob Thomas explains, “the prediction had a profound effect on him…he seemed to be in a race against time to accomplish all the work he wanted to do.” 

Can you relate to Walt Disney? Of feeling like time is speeding up and the drumbeat of hurry only seems to be growing louder? 

I used to feel that burden far more than I do today. What has God used to free me? Biblical truths about work on the New Earth in general and this one in particular: We can expect some continuity between our work now and our work on the New Earth. 

What kinds of continuity? At least these two. 

First, there will be some continuity in what we work with as Isaiah 60 promises that some of the best cultural goods from this life will...

“Well done, my good servant!” his master replied. “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.” (Luke 19:17)

We’re in a series exploring 5 biblical truths about work on the New Earth. Today’s passage hints at the second: We will be rewarded with varying degrees of responsibility based on how we live and work today.

Now, if this sounds new to you, it's not your fault. Many churches never talk about eternal rewards. But Jesus did constantly. And one of the many rewards he promised is increased job responsibilities on the New Earth. 

This is one of the lessons of Jesus’s parable of the minas (see Luke 19:11-27), which is similar to but distinct from the parable of the talents. The parable features a master (who represents Jesus) who asks a few servants to steward his minas (a form of money) while he goes on a journey. Upon his return, the master turns to the servants who have faithfully stewarded...

See, I will create new heavens and a new earth….my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain. (Isaiah 65:17, 22-23)

I talk a lot about the work God’s Word promises we will do for eternity. But I know this is a wild and new idea for many. If that’s you, let me bring you up to speed in three bullets:

• Nobody will spend eternity “in heaven.” God promises to bring heaven to earth and to dwell with us here forever (see Revelation 21:1-5).
• While the present heaven is marked by rest (see Revelation 14:13), the New Earth is marked by active service and worship (see Revelation 22:3-5).
• We will worship God not just by singing but by long enjoying the work of our hands (see Isaiah 65:17-23).

With those foundational truths under our feet, I’ll use the rest of this series to share 5 biblical truths about the nature of work on the New Earth. The first is seen clearly in today’s passage: We who are in Christ will...